It's like the Mater of the bicycle world but when you have to bike to work and bring in another bike, you do what you have to do. Damon knows how to tow in style.
Saturday was another beautiful November day to be out riding bicycles in the country with friends, almost a perfect day.. almost. Temps made it into the 60 degree range but with a brisk wind out of the south, southeast it felt a little chillier than the temps suggested.
The plan for Saturday was a jaunt out to Bennet since we haven't been out that way in almost 11 months. Crazy to still see farmers out harvesting and preparing the fields for winter, inside that cloud of corn stalk dust is a combine still threshing crops in late November and the roads were still somewhat busy with large trucks.
We were either directly into or mostly into that stiff headwind all the way out to Bennet but you'd never be able to tell the way the guys and gals were blazing up and down the gravel waves.
All that speed makes a person mighty thirsty, which of course meant a ditch beer stop, in an official #sovag Yeti Koozie.
The wind did batter the folks a bit more than expected and water was becoming a bit of an issue for some folks, so it was decided to make a little short cut on route and take the highway for a mile and swing by Casey's for a refill. David took this to mean that he should find the first sharp object on the asphalt and run it over, he did a fine job finding a large staple to flatten his tire.
I of course got quite tickled that we happened to stop at "Justin" Timber Lake for the flat repair.
Tire fixed it was a quick spin up to the Casey's where we promptly refilled water, grabbed something to eat and hung out on the leeward side of the building... next to the poison traps.
Since we stopped at the Casey's just outside of Bennet, we opted not to stop at the bar in Bennet so it was just a roll through. Bennet once upon a time was a booming railroad town and the social center of Lancaster county, well before Lincoln got it's legs underneath it and eventually surpassed Bennet as the big city. Bennet was originally named Bennett's Station after the then Vice President of the Midland Pacific Railway, John Bennett, that ran from Lincoln to Nebraska City. So what happened to the second T and the prosperity of single T Bennet, well the Great Depression for one and I suspect the advent and subsequent affordability of the automobile making the once seemingly remote town of Lincoln much easier and quicker to get to. One thing is for sure, in the 1930s folks began leaving Bennet for the big city and have only recently started to return to this Lincoln bedroom community. As for that missing T, well, that never has been found.
Things went a little sideways leaving Bennet, the front decided to bypass Bennet Road; the designated turn and instead went as far as they could until hitting a T intersection and took Apple Road. We sent out a search party but those folks were gone, if you're going to make a navigational mistake do it really fast so nobody can tell you you're going the wrong way. We finally did get in contact with them and they said they were pushing on instead of coming back. Would they survive, would their oxen die, would their group come down with dysentery? Only time would tell.
Our group continued on the designated route and met up with the advanced party of the separated group at 120th and Bennet Road, there we discovered that fate of the other party. They all survived their navigational mistake and awaited us a bit farther up 120th.
Back as one group and with the wind at our backs now, we made a hasty retreat back to Lincoln, much like the Bennet-ites of the 1930s and the end of the SMDNFBR for the week. No ride next week so that we can represent the West in the East West Groveler race out in Ashland, should be a good time and a great change of pace.
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